Hello. Just coming up with a story inspired by an author named Leo-something.

Sorry man, I forgot your name. Though, your story and idea for this was good. I decided to write it, since… why not?

Enjoy!

Greed.

It consumes us all. It what makes people to create monsters out of things: viruses, men, and machine. It all started with a rival company to Akihiko's company, the man who made Sword Art Online. It's name was BytTec.

What? You thought this would be about Gentek and the Blacklight Virus of Alex Mercer?

You're close, I'll give you that… anyhow, one of the chosen 1,000 beta testers was one of the workers at BytTec. Seeing this opportunity, they asked an elite programmer known as Z3U5 to create a computer virus to steal information from computers connected to the Nerve Gear's WIFI, crash said computers and glitch the game so it will fail ultimately.

However, the release date of Sword Art Online was sooner than expected, and it was up to the hacker to install the 99% competed virus into the system. But first, he needed to play the game. A flawless plan.

Except with the no-logout code that was implemented in the system, and they very brutal anti-hack code. The result… was a body going to a morgue.

However… he wasn't "dead" per say…

Never said the upload was a failure, now did we?.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Kyler groaned. He was sick of it all: the rats, blobs, wolves, boars, and the friggin boss on the first floor. He was lucky that he was with that Cheater, Kirito, who beat the monster with ease. Damn beta testers…

A sickly thump echoed behind him.

"What?" he turned around, his shield up ready to block a rat that may have respawned. Never can be too careful, especially in the caves. Carefully with his shortsword primed for a slice or a stab, whatever may stun the creature so he might have a chance to fight back. Turning the corner, Kyler's arm tensed. Something felt very wrong here…

Then, a rat leaped towards him.

Acting out of sheer terror and luck, Kyler managed to behead the rat, causing the computer-generated AI to evaporate, for lack of better term. It's what happens when a level six player enters a level three XP farm; you become almost like a god. It's satisfying.

"Heh… just a rat…" Kyler relaxed. He went ahead and looted what was on the enemy: Rat Hide x1 and Rat Meat x3. Not much, but if his quest demands it…

"Ah… my aching head…"

The boy froze at the voice. He didn't come in the caves with another person. He turned around and saw what looked like a 17 year old male, wearing a grey hoodie and a long, black biker's jacket with a strange tribal sign on his back, colored blood red. It didn't have a NPC tag on it, nor did it have the normal player ID tag, just a name, "Alex". The strangest thing of all, however, was that it was wearing grey jeans, something that Kyler's current prison does not even have.

Grey jeans.

No ID of any sort besides a name tag.

Warning signs all around.

"W-who are you?" Kyler pointed his sword at the strange humanoid. It seemed to look at him with confusion.

"D-do you know?" it asked.

'Odd," Kyler thought, 'it doesn't know its name… no quest icon popping up, either...'

It seemed to be a bit more anxious now, rocking back and forth a bit. Kyler sighed. God, he looks like a poor, lost puppy…

"Alex."

It blinked. "Al...ex?" he said, the words seemingly foreign to him. Then, Alex grinned. "My name is Alex!"

Kyler couldn't help but grin at the boy's glee. Reminded him of his newborn nephew. God, how he wondered how his sister is taking this… being trapped in this game.

"Yo, Alex."

Alex looked towards Kyler. "Yes?"

"I'm Kyler. Kyler Smith. I'm going to get you to Beginner's Village so you can get some gear, alright?

Alex nodded. "A-alright…"

Then the two took off, with Kyler fending of rats and slimes while they make their way to the exit of the cave. To this day, neither of the two realized that the entirety of the game was about to change. For better or worse… that remains to be seen.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Pain.

That's what it first felt. Agonizing pain. It does not know how it existed, it just remembers just being. Memories, fragmented beyond belief.

It needs to feed.

Then, it saw a humanoid.

Prey.

It slowly slithered towards its prey, unnoticed by the male. The prey seemed to be sharpening a spear, almost getting ready for combat. It lunged, just before the prey could scream. Slowly, it felt the male's data and stats creep into its own code. It felt more powerful.

It wanted more.

Then the memories came.

"Cody! Make sure you wash the dishes before you play that new game of yours!"

"Yes mom!"

"Finally, I can play Sword Art Online!"

"What do you mean, we're gonna die here?"

Strange foreign memories. It did not understand them, but it did understand what it needed to do.

Consume.

Consume the Admin.

In order to do that… it would need to find out who Admin was. It would need to reach the top of the tower, and work its way down. Meet the players at level eighty nine, so they are at most ripe of levels.

It senses the Admin in the game.

And its other.

Let it be known that Redlight is here.

And its on the hunt.